Next up: Pedro Martinez!

I'm thrilled to announce the subject of my next picture book biography: the greatest baseball player I've ever seen in person, and one of the greatest pitchers of all time, Pedro Martinez.

As a lifelong Red Sox fan, so many of my fondest baseball memories are of watching Pedro pitch. Once I even spent the whole night outside Fenway Park, in hopes of getting tickets to see him pitch in game 3 of the 1999 American League Championship Series. (I got tickets, and it was worth it!)

Back then, I didn't know much about Pedro beyond what I saw on the field and what I heard in his always-entertaining post-game interviews.  But when I started researching his life, I learned that there was so much more to Pedro's story.

I don't want to give away too much, but I can tell you the title: Growing Up Pedro. It's a story about overcoming obstacles, the power of brotherhood, and of course, baseball.

Here's a sneak peek at one of the illustrations:

Growing Up Pedro will be published by Candlewick, and will hit bookstores in February of 2015. I'm about halfway done with the illustrations, so time to get back to work!